Mount Fuji Fun... A Climb To The Top

Part 2: The Descent

Before the ascent vs during the descent haha

In comparison to ascending the descent should have been a piece of cake: daylight, less strenuous and the force of gravity working with you. In my head I pictured a blissful, laid back stroll back down the mountain, but of course in reality nothing works out as planned. In fact ironically what should have been the "easy" part was actually the worst part of the whole climb, something I blame on two things...

1. The absolutely horrendous weather.

2. Myself for being oh so naive and not checking the forecast for day 2 as well as day 1.

After reuniting with my friend at the 9th station it was time for us to get back down to familiar territory. Our moods had switched from hyper, excitable. eager to fatigued, subdued, passive. Still we "sucked it up" and began our descent.

Foggy, rocky terrain of the trail

 The tricky trail 

Just a few steps in was when the hail began to hit us in the face, the wet rocks began to trip us and the fog blind us, so it's unsurprising that in a matter of a few minutes we lost each other. It wasn’t long until I went into slight panic mode envisioning various dramatic scenarios. On numerous occasions I attempted to wait but the freezing temperature got the best of me and I had to keep moving. Therefore my descent basically involved me stopping at every mountain hut, ordering some kind of hot beverage, obsessively calling/texting my friend and waiting for as long as I could stand shivering. When I eventually got to the end of the trail I still had not found her. I searched around the grounds, waited endlessly at the bottom and even attempted to re-climb (my legs were not having that haha!)

Where it all began and ended 

To cut a long story short, in the end I had to enlist the help of the Mountain Police (at least I think that's what they were), something of an experience in itself. After I gave them endless details about my friend and myself (practically filed a missing person’s report) they began calling the huts and questioning climbers. Finally after she had been spotted they sent someone up to essentially rescue her down the mountain, and we were reunited once again (I'm making it sound like a dramatic movie plot lol). We thanked the very helpful mountain police people, sorted ourselves out and just made it onto the last bus back to the station. We finished the day with a much needed Katsu curry before snoozing on the Shinkansen back to Kansai.

It's fair to say that my experience climbing Mount Fuji was not like the average sunny, picturesque climb, but it sure was an interesting one! Besides despite the setbacks I still made it to the top and back down again all in one piece, what more could I ask for!